[gatorguy]

Referring to my original plan for using my Sirui travel tripod it looks like my Benro G3 ballhead won't be great friends with it after all. I've ordered an Amazon return Vanguard Alta BH100 for it instead.

[Alex645]

I would doubt magnesium is stronger per unit weight than most heat tempered aluminum alloys, else aircraft would be made of magnesium. What magnesium brings to the table (tripod) is that it is a fairly dead material, damping induced vibrations.

There are many references that state magnesium alloy is stronger and lighter than aluminum alloy.

Magnesium is called the Metal of the Future for a Reason: Lillian Wong | CD International Enterprises, Inc. Blog (NASDAQ:CDII)
Magnesium alloy as a lighter alternative to aluminum alloy

Although planes are commonly made of aluminum, it's always an alloy that includes various percentages of copper, magnesium, and zinc. Magnesium alloy contain various percentages of aluminum, copper, manganese, zinc, silicon, zirconium, and of course, pixie dust.

Planes also use wood, fiber glass, steel, titanium, and graphite composites but aluminum alloy is common because it's cheaper than magnesium alloy.

[kaseki]

There are many references that state magnesium alloy is stronger and lighter than aluminum alloy.

I concede on the topic of magnesium alloy. I was thinking of cast or rolled magnesium vs. the common aerospace aluminum alloys. Last I knew, the Mg alloys were specialty metals under development and assumed (perhaps foolhardily) that they were not yet accessible for manufacture of devices such as camera tripods, where thin tubing is the usual approach. Duplicating the form of a wood tripod, though, should be easy. To bad Wong didn't address the relative strengths of the metals she compared by sectional area, or what mixtures composed popular Mg alloys -- something else to do in my spare time.

[gatorguy]

To bad Wong didn't address the relative strengths of the metals she compared by sectional area, or what mixtures composed popular Mg alloys -- something else to do in my spare time.

Well even if there had been two Wongs it might not have been done right.

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Last edited by gatorguy; 07-01-2020 at 08:36 AM.

[Alex645]

To bad Wong didn't address the relative strengths of the metals she compared by sectional area, or what mixtures composed popular Mg alloys -- something else to do in my spare time.

There is a lot to learn about cameras and materials when dissecting a camera and/or a tripod. Titanium shutter, stainless steel lens mount, magnesium alloy chassis and body for higher end models, and aluminum alloy and polycarbonates for weight and cost reduction.

Of course it's much simpler when designing a tripod, but much more obvious in discovering the Achilles Heal such as broken flip locks, corroded bolts, bent aluminum legs, etc.

When reading reviews, I usually ignore the one and five star reviews. The two, three, four stars are usually more objective and reveal to me the potential problems of the product. The problem with most reviews is that they are inflated because reviews are usually done right after purchase. Follow up reviews after 1 year, 3 years, 5 years, and beyond would be much more telling, especially for tools like tripods which should be lifetime purchases.

Case in point: Five 5-star reviews and one 2-star review for this 4.5 star tripod for $12.95 new:
Magnus GP-100 Light-Duty Tripod GP-100 B&H Photo Video

[johnha]

I gave up trying to get a tripod tall enough for eye level viewing (too flimsy, heavy or long). Four feet or so is high enough to clear most railings or parapets. My travel tripod is a Manfrotto 190 Go (metal legs of some description) with an old ball head I had lying around.

I'm sure there's a difference between steel, aluminium, alloys and carbon but quality of manufacture and the head will make more difference. Weight wise, a heavy tripod will always be more stable, so you have to compromise somewhere. Hanging a heavy camera bag underneath a lightweight, flimsy tripod is not necessarily a good idea.

[OldChE]

It just has to be sturdy enough to hold these.

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[Alex645]

It just has to be sturdy enough to hold these.

Plus the film and 6 AA batteries or 10 AA batteries if you're including the flash AND the weight of your hand if you're not using a shutter release cable.

That's why I think it's wise to have a tripod and head that are rated for over 20 lbs. even though the camera and lens is probably one third that weight. I did notice that at least one of the quick release heads discussed had a plastic shoe which is great for saving weight but a pending disaster you never want to experience.

It happened to me once upon a time off a monopod and the fall destroyed the camera. No pain, no gain? Not in this case.

[johnha]

It just has to be sturdy enough to hold these.

At least the vertical tripod socket takes a lot strain out of the head and positions the camera over the centre of it. For verticals with my 6x7 I use a Vanguard BBH-300 ball head which has a 90 degree stop and claims to hold 30Kg.

My main 'heavy' tripod is a UniLoc Major (which can be like wrestling an octopus in a soap factory), you can also set it up in unstable configurations - never let go of the camera until you're sure...